Growing up, Gaby Rodriguez was often told she would end
up a teen mom. After all, her mother and her older sisters had gotten pregnant
as teenagers; from an outsider’s perspective, it was practically a family
tradition. Gaby had ambitions that didn’t include teen motherhood. But she
wondered: how would she be treated if she “lived down” to others' expectations?
Would everyone ignore the years she put into being a good student and see her
as just another pregnant teen statistic with no future? These questions sparked
Gaby’s school project: faking her own pregnancy as a high school senior to see
how her family, friends, and community would react. What she learned changed
her life forever, and made international headlines in the process.

In The Pregnancy Project, Gaby details how she was
able to fake her own pregnancy—hiding the truth from even her siblings and
boyfriend’s parents—and reveals all that she learned from the experience. But
more than that, Gaby’s story is about fighting stereotypes, and how one girl
found the strength to come out from the shadow of low expectations to forge a
bright future for herself.

I had
never heard of Gabby Rodriguez or what she did her senior year before reading
this book. I am usually not a big fan of
memoirs, but I saw this on pulse it, a free reading program on Simon and
Schuster for teens, and it jumped out at me.
Once I started reading I couldn’t stop.
The book could be slow at times but it still kept my interest. This book was very inspiring to me. I was astonished by family history, and how
fast she had to grow up. When I read
about her back ground and how she overcame so many of the challenges she faced
I felt empowered. The parts that really stuck with me were the parts about her
father, and how her was never really a part of her life. It reminded me of my own careless biological
father, and how lucky I am to have the man I call my father. I can relate to how she felt when her father
didn’t give her the love and care she wanted.
I was inspired by the message of this book. It was a very fulfilling read.